If you keep neglecting that diesel, imma come qnd get it Sent from my 416-8

You will have to fight the wife for it because it is hers.

Feeling a little better today. The nyquil coma seems to last for about 12 hours. Maybe my body just needs rest. Any how....

After the coffee and internet the wife and I headed outside to see if we could resurrect the S10.

I finished up the steering column while she worked on the starter problem.

She got the starter out and we tested it and it was good. Then I told her to take a look at the wiring .

Got the steering column buttoned up and the steering wheel was upside down. Not as simple as taking it off and turning it back over because of how it is splined. I had to take the steering shaft apart to get it right. That column was really jacked up.

Then I turned my attention to the wiring mess.

This truck came from a guy who “built race cars” so if you see a race car burst into flame from an electrical short it is probably one of his. I had forgotten we had to rewire the clutch safety switch because the factory harness was so butchered.

After about 20 minutes of studying a wiring diagram and tracing my wiring I came to the conclusion that I need to draw a new diagram for this truck. SO I think we found the problem, but it was getting dark and cold and Heath woke up from his nap so we packed it up and came in for dinner.

Hopefully I will get to feeling better soon and my writing will improve again. Right now just breathing is a priority.

Well today I coughed and hacked and limped my way to the coffee pot. Somehow I managed to kink my back while sleeping last night. So I spent some quality time on my Shiatsu massaging pad.

After a while I got to feeling almost human so I clamped the hat on my head and made my way out to the shop to see if I could exorcise the electrical demons from the wife's truck.

While I was outside the mail ran so I went up to the mailbox and saw my elderly neighbor, Wanda, coming out to get her mail in her bathrobe at 4pm. I talked to her and found out that she has been sick for almost a week and no one has checked on her. I felt bad. I asked her why she didn't call – she didn't want to bother us.

Steph was at the store so I asked Wanda if there was anything she needed and she said milk and bread. A quick phone call to Steph and a lecture to Wanda about not telling us she was sick and I went back to the truck .

Found a loose negative battery terminal and a loose wire on the starter, but no joy. It is still misbehaving. Figuring that the starter may be going bad I pulled it out and went through my pile of starter motors. Somehow I have 500 starters and none that fit a 2.8L GM.

Since Steph was gone shopping in the BlueOx and I have no way to get to the parts house I called it a day. I could have had her grab on while she was out but I didn't want to fool with the whole core charge mess and having to go back to get money back.

So now I am sitting in the shop with a beer watching My Name is Earl on Netflix. Tomorrow I go to the doctor to see why I am coughing so much and have him tell me I am too fat, my blood pressure is too high, and I owe him money.

When my kids were a lot younger we got a new refrigerator in the Box so I had the delivery guy carefully cut the box so it stayed pretty well in tack. Those kids played with it for weeks on end. They made a house then a bus etc. Yep, throw away the toy and give them the box. Best baby sitter in town!

Ever have one of those “they hurrier I go the behinder I get” days. Well I had one today.

Got up at the crack of early this morning and made coffee while hacking and gagging. Poured down a couple of cups while the wife and heath slept in a bit. Finally woke them up at 8 and finished up my email and forums. Then I walked out to the kitchen for another cup. My wife (knowing we had a long busy day ahead) had decided to leisurely put together a roast for dinner tonight. Got her hurried up. Had a doc appointment this afternoon so I jumped through the shower while she got herself and Heath ready to go.

Dried, dressed and dang tired from not sleeping all night while I was coughing, hat majestically perched on my head, I hit the front yard running. Hooked up the trailer, loaded the ramps, strapped everythign down, got Heath and Steph on board then pointed the BlueOx toward Wingate, NC by 10am.

Stopped for fuel then hit the interstate for an hour and a half of playing dodge the moron on the interstate. There were a few times I was tempted to not dodge them.

At 1130 we landed at a house that was populated by the offspring of the Village People. I looked a bit out of place with my hat, pistol and big knife while they all ran around in tie dyed shirts and peace emblems. The gal said something was in the trunk of the car that she wanted out, but she didn't have a key. So I broke out the universal trunk key – monster straight screwdriver and big hammer. She retrieved all her stuff then I hooked the front of her Olds to the back of the trailer and drug it out in the road.

I stayed with the car while Steph took the BlueOX and trailer down a long hill and dropped the ramps. Then I began the long slow roll down to let gravity load me up. I didn't think it was going to work because the car barely gained any speed till the last 50 feet then it shot up the ramps and we restrained it properly,

paid the Village Person's daughter, and headed back through Charlotte traffic.

On the way in I was lured off the highway by the siren song of the China Buffet in Stallings. If you ever go through make sure you stop and eat. It is worth the detour.

Had to preform a bit of baby maintainence.

Heath had chicken nuggets

Then I told him they were baby dinosaurs

Kidding

He did test out my hat to see if it made him any smarter

I think it did.

At 255 we walked in the front door of the doctors office, only to be told that I no longer had insurance. I told her I did, that nothing had changed since last time I was there. I had an old card that got run through the washer and was a bit hard to read. It had my SSN on it and she wrote it down and went to the back.

After a few minutes she came back and said it would not pull up on her computer (thank you Obamacare for screwing up all the doctors computers) then she asked if that was my number on the paper and proceeded to read it loud enough to every criminal in a 50 mile radius to hear. I stopped her and said nicely yes that is my number. She started to read it out loud again. I again politely stopped her and said that it was my number. A third time she started to read it out loud and I said in a very loud and slightly irritated voice, "DO NOT YELL MY NYMBER OUT LOUD. I HAVE TOLD YOU 3 TIMES THAT IS WAS CORRECT I KNOW MY NUMBER AND I CAN READ AND I DON'T WANT YOU YELLING MY NUMBER OUT TO THE WHOLE WORLD”

She got mad.

After storming back to a different office she came out and said that she was entering my name incorrectly. I wanted to slap her.

Finally doc told me that I was going to live for another day at least. As predicted I weigh too much, blood pressure is too high, cholesterol is too high and then he told me I have bronchitis – but that I had waited so long to come in that it was almost gone. LOL

Then I made a quick run by Harbor Freight to snag a sawzall since all the magic smoke leaked out of mine.

Now I am home eating the roast Steph put together this morning. I am glad she did it now, but boy did it put a crimp in my plans. I would have been gone 30 minutes earlier this morning if not for that.

So what is your number? ....... Usually it's always the same....by the time the doc can see you, whatever you have had has pretty much ran it's course. That's why I've never bothered in over 20 years to go when I'm sick. Preventative treatment is best by far, but not always enough!

I have a hard time driving past a Chinese Buffet myself. Cat & rat tastes mighty good to me! Speaking of that, it's been a while....maybe Chinese this weekend!

Hope you get that cough under control. Last time I was truly sick, I coughed till my rib cage felt like I'd been beaten with a baseball bat....for days!

I would not have made an appointment, but i was scheduled for my 6 month tongue lashing any how so while I was there I got a tetanus booster and he checked my cough. He said my cough was quite impressive LOL.

I'm due a tongue lashing soon, but my prescriptions have a while yet, so I'm delaying my next visit! I need to drop the 8lbs I gained starting at Thanksgiving! Not so much to please the doc, but the extra gain has acid reflux on the warpath! Not fun!

The military health system moved to web based prescriptions. This past Nov I went for my tongue lashing and he put the new prescriptions in for the next year. Guess I really don't need to go see him in May.

The doctor prescribed some Benzonatate for my cough, which was all well and good, till I took it. I spent last night in a horrible state of cold sweats, dizziness, confusion, headache, and having to pee every 8 seconds. It wasn't fun.

Sleep finally took over at around 5am. So at 11 I made my way into the land of the living and made coffee and staggered to my computer while Heath and Steph ate an early lunch.

While I was asleep Steph took it on herself to go down to AutoZone and get her starter then put it on herself. I love that girl.

At about 12 my hat found it way to my head and we all went outside to load up to go to the scrap yard. I had a 90?? Olds on the trailer that I took apart yesterday and we stuffed it full of every odd and end make of metal that we could find. Even fitted a wood stove neatly in the truck.

At 3 we meandered down to the scrap yard where we spent an hour weighing and unloading. Seems like everyone in town brought junk today.

Finally got the check and headed to Tommy's diner to get some grub. Livermush sandwich for me, bacon cheeseburger for Steph, Sweet potato fries and dill pickles for Heath.

Then we made a run to the bank to deposit the check and get a roll of quarters.

Dropped by Advance Auto for engine degreaser and headed over to the car wash to clean up the dirty engine to see if I can find the short in the wiring harness.

Finally back home – got a letter from the doctor telling me exactly what I told him he would find in my blood work – too much Chinese food. Had I known they were going to draw blood I would have behaved a little better. All the bad stuff was bad and the good stuff was almost non existent. I may be a medical marvel as to how I am still alive.

Steph is leaving to go to an animal auction soon so Heath and I get some quality alone time. I think that beer and cigars in the living room will be perfectly acceptable entertainment while she is gone. She disagrees.